M240
The M240 is a general-purpose machine gun. It can be mounted on a bipod, tripod, aircraft, or vehicle. The M240 is a belt-fed, air-cooled, gas-operated, fully automatic machine gun that fires from the open bolt position. This reliable 7.62mm machine gun delivers more energy to the target than the smaller caliber M249 SAW. It is being issued to infantry, armor, combat engineer, special force/rangers, and selected field artillery units that require medium support fires and replaced the ground-mounted M-60 series machine guns currently in use. Ammunition is fed into the weapon from a 100-round bandoleer containing a disintegrating metallic split-link belt. The gas from firing one round provides the energy for firing the next round. Thus, the gun functions automatically as long as it is supplied with ammunition and the trigger is held to the rear. As the gun is fired, the belt links separate and are ejected from the side. Empty cases are ejected from the bottom of the gun. A spare barrel is issued with each M240, and barrels can be changed quickly as the weapon has a fixed head space. However, barrels from different weapons should not be interchanged. The bore of the barrel is chromium plated, reducing barrel wear to a minimum. The M240B The M240B is the standard infantry medium machine gun of the U.S. Army and is the version in use by the U.S. Air Force. It comes configured for ground combat. It is almost always referred to as an "M240 Bravo" or even a "240 Bravo" verbally, but always written as M240B. The M60E4 (Mk 43 as designated by the U.S. Navy) was pitted against the (then called) M240E4 in Army trials during the 1990s for a new infantry medium machine gun, in a competition to replace the decades-old M60s. The M240E4 won, and was then classified as the M240B. This led to 1000 existing M240 being sent to FN for an overhaul and a special kit that modified them for use on ground (such as a stock, a rail, etc.). This led to procurement contracts in the late 1990s for all-new M240B. However, a new feature was added, a hydraulic buffer system to reduce the felt recoil as incorporated in the M60. While the M240B had been more reliable in the tests, it was a few pounds heavier than the M60E4, and there is program underway for a new lightweight medium machine gun in the early 2000s. The Army M240 converted to the M240B configuration should not be confused with the large numbers of M240/E1 converted to the M240G configuration for the Marine Corps. Role in Ghost Recon The M240 appears in Ghost Recon (as USMC-style M240G fitted with a scope in Island Thunder but holds only 50 rounds) and Ghost Recon 2 as a Support/Gunner weapon. It is used by Nick Salvatore and Marcus Brown in Ghost Recon 2. The M240B also appears in the PC version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. Appearances *''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon'' *''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm'' *''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2'' *''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike'' *''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2'' Category:Light Machine Guns